Syrian-born Maher Azem is creating change through film

In 2005, Maher Azem left Syria for Canada to pursue a master’s degree in computer engineering at Ryerson University. The 23-year-old’s dream was to build an IT career in a country where his qualifications held more weight than his connections.

Ten years later, he is achieving his career goals; he currently works as a network specialist at Shaw in Toronto. But he had never imagined that he would also be the founder of a unique film festival about the struggles faced by those living in his native country.

On Nov. 13, the first annual Syria Film Festival (SYFF) will be launched at the Art Gallery of Ontario. During the three-day event, seven high-quality, original films and documentaries — including some that can not be screened in Syria because of their controversial subject matter — will be shown, including the recently Academy Award-nominated “50 Feet From Syria”, which will premiere at the event. Renowned American-Syrian actor Jay Abdo, who has worked with Tom Hanks and Nicole Kidman, will also attend to endorse the festival.

The film festival is Azem’s way of making a difference. “With the luxury and freedom we have here [in Canada], I feel that as Syrians who grew up in Syria, we have a duty to get the message out about people who are still there. They’re caught in the crossfire and no one’s even listening to them,” Azem says.

According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, approximately one in three Syrians — close to eight million people — who are still living in the country have lost their homes.

While Azem’s family members left Syria soon after the uprising began in 2011, one of his close friends was killed in a mortar attack, which shocked him deeply. One of Azem’s cousins was also wrongfully imprisoned for handing out medical supplies to the wounded.

From early on in the crisis, Azem decided to use his despair to fuel action. With a group of his friends and other community members, he started organizing fundraising events for Syrians.

It wasn’t easy. “I didn’t have any event management experience, and in the beginning I didn’t know how to do it,” Azem says. “I had to learn how to organize these things.”

Along the way, he also learned that art, particularly film, was a powerful tool to convey messages. “Documentaries in particular touch your heart emotionally and open your eyes to things you haven’t seen before,” Azem says.

Syrian film festival idea was born

In December 2013, after Azem organized a successful one-day documentary event, a conversation with a friend triggered the idea of creating a film festival.

Initially, Azem says he was hesitant; it would be a huge endeavour to take on on his own. But luckily, through networking, Azem met others who were excited by the idea and had the expertise to help him execute it.

But everything else wasn’t so straightforward. “It was difficult — many filmmakers and distributors refused to give us their films since we were new and not a famous film festival,” Azem says.

Obtaining donations and sponsorships was even harder, he says, as many Syrian-Canadian community members the SYFF team reached out to didn’t see the importance of art. “Explaining to them what we were doing was pretty challenging. Some of them laughed at us, asking if we’re going to show Syrian soap operas.”

After reaching out to hundreds of people, the SYFF team’s persistence paid off with the securing of about a dozen sponsors. An additional $6,000 was raised through an online fundraising campaign Azem started on Indiegogo.

“The support we got [from the public] was amazing,” he says. “We’re also getting a lot of ticket sales and getting constant emails from people who want to contribute or volunteer. It’s heartwarming to see Canadians stepping forward to help.”

While Azem hopes that SYFF will lead to members of the public and NGOs taking action to help Syrians on the ground, ultimately his biggest wish is that the situation will change in Syria. “We want the nightmare to end,” he says.

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